Chicken Empathy

[anvia]

After I rehomed most of my flock my Cornish cross pullet Eleanor became depressed. You could see the sadness in her eyes and how much she missed her friends. She no longer would forage in the backyard as actively as she used to, she would just sit in the grass and close her eyes. She passed away in her sleep one night. I still miss her, she was so loving and full of life. She will be missed.
This is a picture of Eleanor taken before I had to rehome my flock you can see that it almost looks like she’s smiling.View attachment 1514325

She looks lovely!
Sometimes people say they are lucky to have you - but I think sometimes we are blessed to have them in our lives.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

She looks lovely!
Sometimes people say they are lucky to have you - but I think sometimes we are blessed to have them in our lives.

That’s is so true!

 

[MROO]

Poultry and waterfowl don’t fall under the Humane Slaughter Act because they apparently don’t feel pain, which is absolute garbage!

Anyone who believes that garbage can come to my house and try to pluck a feather out of my nastiest hen's tail. Since it "won't hurt her," their noses, ears, arms and fingers will be perfectly safe, right?

 

[micstrachan]

I understand. I lost my first girlie this Spring. She disappeared. No evidence of predators, no feathers, nothing. I was so upset. I looked for her every day. My other girl, Wendigo, acted so strange. She quit roosting; she started sleeping in a different spot. The saddest thing was, every morning when I let her out, she would run to the edge of the woods and call and call. She would keep that up for the longest time, then she would hang her head and go closer to the house. She did this for weeks; after about a month, I got another girlie for her. She perked up, became the dominant, and, began acting normal again. I miss our Lucy. She was hand fed and very friendly. Our new girlie, Penelope, is friendly, but not to jump up beside me and sit on the outside table. She would let my son's girlfriend paint her nails. I guess I will have to get a little bitty one and raise it by hand but do not want a rooster, so...

I am sorry for your loss. Chickens are such characters.

Aww... I’m sorry.

 

[MROO]

She would let my son's girlfriend paint her nails. I guess I will have to get a little bitty one and raise it by hand but do not want a rooster, so...

It's a shame you don't want a rooster, because I have a little guy who jumps from the ground to my knee to my head, then rides around the yard on my shoulder. Yukon would LOVE to have his nails painted!

 

[micstrachan]

It's a shame you don't want a rooster, because I have a little guy who jumps from the ground to my knee to my head, then rides around the yard on my shoulder. Yukon would LOVE to have his nails painted!
View attachment 1514595

He’s so itty bitty and precious!

 

[micstrachan]

Anthropomorphism? Sure, there is plenty of it out there. In my case? Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know how else to explain and describe the behavior. Margo had nothing to gain by staying by Rusty’s side. She even jumped in the air and bared her claws at Rusty when I first reintegrated her after hospitalization.
Margo has also exhibited what I would call jealousy. It clearly bothers her when lower ranked hens jump in my lap. Not sure what to call that besides jealousy.
Regardless, I do wish more people understood the complex intelligence of chickens and other livestock.
Despite that, I meant for this thread to be uplifting and hope more people share their heart warming stories!

 

[MROO]

Okay - another heart-warmer. Sorry it's so long ...

Herman the House Rooster - an overlarge, overspoiled hatchery Silkie, lives in a kennel in my back room. In our ongoing attempts to integrate him with the rest of our flock, Herman makes regular forays out-of-doors. He gets very excited when it's time to go out, doing what my daughter calls the "Happy Chicken Dance" before hopping down and waltzing to the back door.

Herman obviously likes to GO outside, he just doesn't like to STAY outside. The closest we've gotten to getting him mixing with our other birds is letting him explore the grow-out pen full of "teenage" bantams. They were a really mixed lot that included five really, really small youngsters - a pair of unusually tiny OEGB cockerels and a trio of extremely shy D'Uccles. These itty-bitties were at the mercy of the slightly bigger, much bolder chicks.

It didn't take Herman long to straighten things out. He herded those timid little wallflowers into a well-appointed corner and commandeered a "play space" for them. They had a perch and a sand-wallow all to themselves, and he regularly escorted them to the feed and water, where they were finally able to eat and drink unmolested. At the end of the evening, Herman waited until "his" babies were tucked into their little corner box and the main cohort was settled into the bigger coop before marching to the run door and "announcing" that he was ready to be let out. Once released, Herman wandered around the yard, picking at treasures and treats until someone headed for the back door ... then he made a beeline for it himself. It was bedtime!

Although he no longer has "babies" who need protecting, Herman still makes his rounds of the smaller runs, peering in to see what's up (or maybe what's for dinner, who knows?) And he still makes a beeline for the back door as soon as we head inside. There's no way he's going to stay out in the big, bad backyard all night. He is, after all, a House Rooster!

 

[MROO]

He’s so itty bitty and precious!

Thanks! Now that he's nearly grown, he's a tiny bit bigger, but not by much - and his Red Pule markings are coming in a deep, rich russet. He's really pretty! And he still fits in my hand with room to spare. Yukon knows his name, comes when he's called and walks on a leash.
I know there are lots of nasty, or even just distant, roosters out there, but I've been really, really lucky with mine. The most vicious one I have only attacks shoelaces. Not shoes, not feet, not people. Just shoelaces. It's priceless!

 

[4 ever Orpington]

I'm sorry about your loss

I have several, but I'll just share this one.

My King Rooster, King Zachary, is a fantastic rooster. When my Super Blue hen went broody in 105°F weather and made herself deathly sick, she could not stand up to reach the feeder.

Now, when Zachary makes his adorable clucking noises, every hen in earshot will run to him to see what he's showing them.

This Hen was sitting under the feeder, not eating because she had no strength. I was about to pull her out of the flock until Zachary stood OVER her, took a few pieces of crumble food in his beak, and dropped it on the coop floor in front of her. He did this over and over until she wouldn't eat anymore. He never made a sound, so the other hens ignored them. He brought her back to health without my intervention at all. It was the sweetest chicken love story I've ever witnessed!

What fabulous rooster! Long live king Zachary!